Where Cupán Focail
was born

What is the Craicathon?

The Craicathon is a free, one-day hackathon that brings together coders, Irish speakers, designers, artists, musicians, and anyone curious — to build projects that promote Irish language and culture. No fluency in Irish or coding experience is required.

Held during Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Language Week) at Dogpatch Labsin Dublin's CHQ Building, the Craicathon is where ideas meet action. Teams form on the day, templates and AI tools are provided, and by the end of the afternoon, working prototypes are demoed to the room.

Build something for Irish language and culture. In a day.

How Cupán Focail started

Cupán Focail — literally “a cup of words” — was built by Nicola and David at the Craicathon. We arrived with a simple idea: what if ordering your morning coffee could help bring Irish back into everyday life?

Over the course of one intense day, we built a working prototype: an interactive map of cafés where you can order in Irish, bite-sized lessons to learn what to say at the counter, and an NFC-powered stamp card that rewards you for using your cúpla focal.

What started as a hackathon project has grown into a platform partnering with cafés and Irish cultural centres across Belfast and Ireland.

Our cló Gaelach font: Anois by Gaeltacht Type

One of the things that makes Cupán Focail feel distinctly Irish is our typeface. The headings and display text across the site are set in Anois, a beautiful open-source cló Gaelach (Irish type) font created by the team at Gaeltacht Type.

Cló Gaelachhas a long and fascinating history. It's a family of typefaces based on the insular script developed in Irish monastic scriptoria — the same tradition that gave us the Book of Kells. For centuries, cló Gaelach was the standard for printing in Irish, until the government phased it out in the mid-20th century in favour of Roman type.

Today, there's a growing revival movement. Designers like the team behind Gaeltacht Type are creating modern, open-source Irish typefaces that honour the tradition while making it accessible for digital use. Anois is part of that movement, and we're proud to use it throughout Cupán Focail.

Go raibh míle maith agat to Gaeltacht Type for their gorgeous work on Anois. Follow them on Instagram: @gaeltacht_type

What people built at the Craicathon

The Craicathon isn't just about Cupán Focail. Teams built all kinds of projects during the day:

• Irish language learning games and apps
• Everyday tools and utilities as Gaeilge
• Digital art inspired by Irish mythology
• Browser extensions and keyboard tools for Irish
• Interactive storytelling and digital folklore
• Trad music and Irish dance tech projects

Dogpatch Labs

Dogpatch Labsis Ireland's leading startup hub, located in Dublin's CHQ Building on Custom House Quay. It's a place where founders, builders, and communities come together — and the perfect home for an event that's all about building something meaningful.

Join the next Craicathon

The Craicathon is free and open to everyone. Whether you're a developer, designer, Irish speaker, student, or just curious — you're welcome. No experience needed. Visit craicathon.ie to find out about the next event.